


From War Comes Destruction

by ScalePhoenix14825



Category: Final Fantasy XII
Genre: F/M, aegyl
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-10-09
Updated: 2014-10-09
Packaged: 2018-02-20 13:41:32
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,709
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2430884
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ScalePhoenix14825/pseuds/ScalePhoenix14825
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>After falling into the sewer the night the Dusk Shard was stolen from the palace, the two pirates and the thief find something, or rather someone; they never thought they'd see. Though there were legends, no one had ever actually seen one.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Garamsythe Waterway: Part 1

**Author's Note:**

> I haven't gotten the chance to play Revenant Wings, but I know some of the basics of what I've read from wikis, so if I get something wrong, please don't hate. Once I've actually played the game, I might go back and rewrite, but until then, this is my story and it shall go the way I please. I hope you enjoy it because I've been throwing this idea around since I first played the game about 4 years ago.

**Chapter One**

**1** **st** **Person POV**

There was nothing I hated more than patrol duty. This isn't where I belonged! I belonged back at the temple helping my father! Not out here making sure airships didn't come within our borders. Though, to be fair, everyone was expected to do patrols at least once a week. "Minuet! Look out!" I heard being called from behind me. The next thing I knew, I was swerving to avoid being hit by something extremely large and metal.

Just our luck, we'd flown into an air raid over the palace in Rabanastre. Swerving, I managed to avoid two projectiles, but three must've been my 'lucky' number because the next thing I knew, there was a blinding pain in my left shoulder and I couldn't keep altitude. As I kept fighting to stay in the air, I started seeing black around the edges of my sight. Before I knew it, everything was pitch black and painful.

**Third Person POV**

Balthier lifted himself off the grimy floors of the sewers and brushed himself off before offering his hand to Fran. The Viera took it gratefully and pulled herself up. "What happened? Our hover didn't just drop-it disappeared." Fran questioned, walking over to examine the hover while Vaan tried to gather himself.

"Bah. Forget it. Even if we could fly, the Ifrit's playing with fire and I'd rather not get burned. We'll go the old fashioned way." Balthier voiced, indicating the only other passage that was available to them. "Not many Viera where you come from, thief?" he asked, noticing that Vaan was staring at his partner.

"It's Vaan." The blond defended at being called a thief and then turned back to Fran. "Sorry." He apologized, looking a little guilty for staring.

"Well, Fran is special; in that she'd deign to partner with a hume." Balthier explained, smiling fondly at the Viera.

"Oh? Like a sky pirate that chooses to steal through the sewers?" she retorted, raising a delicate eyebrow before suddenly her attention was stolen by a low groan from the rubble.

"What is it, Fran?" Balthier asked, not used to seeing his partner with a look of pure concern on her face. The Viera said nothing, but moved forward and began moving large pieces of broken concrete. It wasn't until the other two noticed a hand sticking out of the rubble that they realized what she was doing. After some work, and the help of the other two, she was able to free the buried person.

**Minuet's POV**

I felt weight lifting off me, but I still couldn't move. My hearing was coming back, however, and I could hear someone talking. "What is she?" came a male voice and I had a bad feeling he was talking about me.

"An Aegyl. I thought they were only a legend, but I guess we've just been proven wrong." Came a second man's voice, older and deeper. This wasn't good. This was very bad. I was unable to move and I was surrounded by what I was guessing to be more than likely two Hume men and a third presence I couldn't quite place.

"Legend says that the Aegyl opposed the gods and were banned from Ivalice. Since then, they have not been seen or heard from. They have faded into legend. The Viera would do the same if there were not those such as myself." Came a female voice this time, exotic almost, but soothing none the less. "She must've been injured in the air raid. Blood seeps from one of her wings." She added and I felt a gentle hand on my shoulder before I felt a cold sensation spread throughout my shoulder and the pain began to subside.

"I can't heal her completely, but I have stopped the bleeding."

"Will she be alright?" the boy asked and there was a long pause. I wanted nothing more than to open my eyes, stand, and get away from wherever I was as soon as possible.

"The spell will take a few minutes to spread throughout her body, but she will be fine." The woman said again and, true to her word, within a few minutes, I began to feel my body regaining itself. Carefully, I tried to open my eyes. Luckily, it was fairly dim where we were and I was able to open them without them being invaded by unwanted light.

I seemed to be underground. Just the last place an Aegyl wanted to be. I then took a more careful look at my surroundings. There was a large hole in the ceiling and the remains of it were on the ground where I was laying.

I then took notice of the people around me. A young Hume boy with blond hair and a boyish face. An older Hume man, not much older by the looks of him, with brown hair and a soft face. The last one I noticed was the Viera, possibly the only of the races on Ivalice that the Aegyl had any form of respect for due to the majority of their race cutting themselves off from the others, much as we did so long ago.

Despite the searing protest in my shoulder, I tried to sit up and stand, but the Viera placed a hand on the shoulder that wasn't in complete pain. "You shouldn't move too much just yet. The spell has healed your wounds, but it will take some time before it's completed its process. Your wing is also injured. My spell couldn't heal it." She explained.

This wasn't good. If I couldn't fly, then I'd be stuck on the Underworld and that would mean I'd most certainly be dead if the others didn't come for me. They wouldn't risk revealing themselves for the sake of one warrior though. High Priest's daughter or not. It didn't make a difference when my brother went missing four years ago.

"You don't need to be alarmed." The Viera said, as if sensing my slight panic.

"Alarmed?" I said, raising an eyebrow at the woman before using the wall to pull myself up from the ground, brushing soot and dust from myself. "I don't need to be alarmed. I can handle myself from fiends such as the races of the Underworld." I retorted, not resenting the venom in my voice. The Aegyl might have some respect for the Viera, but they were still a race of the Underworld and our teachings taught us that they were all capable of doing us harm if given the opportunity.

"I guess the legends are true then. Your people left Ivalice and formed a hatred for all those below." The man said, crossing his arms over his chest. "Nonetheless, you'll be a welcome hand as we try to make our way through the sewers." He added, ignoring the glare that I threw at him. "The name's Balthier. This is my partner, Fran. And yours?" he asked, raising an eyebrow at me.

"Minuet." I answered, deciding if I wanted to get out of these sewers, I needed to at least be civil to these people. After that, I could figure out a way to get back home.

"I'm Vaan." The blonde said, holding out my Geminus to me.

Saying nothing, I took the double bladed sword and fixed back into its holster between my wings.

"Shall we then?" Balthier asked and began down the steps into the lightly flowing water. The Viera followed after him wordlessly, but Vaan stayed where he was for a moment. Then he seemed to come to some sort of internal agreement and followed after the other two.

Sighing, I took up the rear of the small group. Like before, I told myself that this would be the quickest way to get out of here and back home.

We stopped, however, when we noticed a couple of soldiers dead in the water. "Insurgents. Most likely they thought to take advantage of a lax watch while the fete's on…to feed the food consul a length of steel for his supper. I should think Vayne used to such hospitality. Clever. He used himself as the bait to draw them near, and then sent in the air brigade. A fine, bloody banquet. Hmph. I daresay I've soiled my cuff. If a dungeon's waiting for us at the end of the night, it had best have a change of wardrobe." Balthier said, sounding disgusted almost.

"It's a disgrace how easily you Humes are willing to kill each other." I voiced and the older man turned to raise an eyebrow at me.

"We've been doing it for centuries, my dear. With each passing day, the world finds new and exciting ways to kill a man. Yet they're usually for the same reasons. Power, revenge, or survival."


	2. Garamsythe Waterway: Part 2

**Chapter Two**

**Minute's POV**

This was ridiculous! Not even in the woods back home were there this many fiends. They seemed to be around every corner we turned

Fran and Balthier remained further away, healing Vaan and myself if we were injured, and I had to admit, they were helpful aids in battle. Vaan was a little sloppy, but he was still young and inexperienced in difficult battles such as the ones in the sewers.

"Hey, you're not half bad!" Vaan laughed as we paused to rest at a healing crystal.

"Thank you?" I said, not sure if it was truly a compliment. "We begin training at a young age and by the time we come of age, we're assigned our class." I elaborated and the blond looked confused for a moment.

"It must suck not being able to choose your own job. I mean, someone else shouldn't get to pick for you." He said and I chuckled.

"Our  _class_  is chosen based on our gender and our fighting ability. Each class has different stress levels and fighting styles. Some are better at one class than another. We do, however get to choose our jobs. At least some of do. I, for example, am a temple hand." I explained.

"A what?" Vaan asked and before I could answer Fran answered for me.

"They assist the head priest with anything he needs help with. It's a job usually reserved for his children." The Viera explained and I was a bit surprised by how much she knew of the Aegyl. She looked to me as if to question her correctness.

"Exactly. My brother and I would often help our father prepare for daily prayer and ceremonies." It's a fairly simple job and it prepares us for when one of us is chosen to take over for the head priest when he passes." I elaborated and the young boy seemed to be enthralled in what I was saying. It was rather…nice to teach someone about the ways of our people. Even if it was a Hume.

"Well, didn't you ever want to do something else? I mean, you guys must have so many cool jobs! You can't have wanted to work in a temple for the rest of your life." Vaan said as we started out again and I had to pause and think.

"I'd never really thought about it. I've worked in the temple since I was a child. I just assumed it was something that was meant for me. It's not as if I don't enjoy my work. It can be tedious at times, but what job isn't?" I asked, but it was more to myself and didn't really expect someone to answer me.

"You should do something that you enjoy doing. That way you never regret the choices you've made." Balthier said from the front of the group and I had to agree with him.

Before anyone else could say anything, there came shouting ahead of us. As we quickly made our way down the stairs, we witnessed a group of what looked to be imperials surrounding a blonde haired Hume woman in a pink miniskirt and wielding a sword. She than slashes at one of the soldiers and he fell from the ledge they were perched upon.

"Who would be next?" she called to the group in front of her and took a defensive stance.

"Close ranks! Bring her down!" one of them yelled and they began to advance on her as she began backing up until she was at the edge and had nowhere else to go, except down.

"Jump down!" Vaan yelled and rushed over to the bottom of the ledge. The woman gaped down at him, her face clearly showing that she thought he was insane. "Hurry!" he insisted as the soldiers continued to advance. She quickly weighed her options and then jumped suddenly, Vaan catching her and stumbling slightly.

"She's not alone!" one of the soldiers yelled as Vaan put the woman back on her feet.

"This just isn't my day." I grumbled to myself, pulling my Geminus from its holster as the small group of soldiers began to come after our small group.

"You and me both, dear." Baltheir interjected, giving me a small wink before backing away so he could get a better shot.

"Our ranks grow by the hour." Fran announced and Balthier sighed.

"And our troubles with them." He said, referring to the soldiers that were charging towards us.

They were easily taken care of, but I had to agree with Balthier. It would have been much simpler if we didn't keep running into trouble. Once the last of the imperials was taken down, I couldn't help but groan. Ignoring the others, I gripped my shoulder and focused on easing the pain of my shoulder and wing. All this fighting wasn't doing it any good. The healing crystal had helped tremendously, but it couldn't seem to heal it completely.

"Do you need time to rest?" someone asked and I opened my eyes to find Baltheir looking at me with a look of concern.

"No." I lied and straightened myself out. "I'll be fine." I said and went to join the other three, the brunette not far behind me.

"I'm Vaan. And this is Balthier and-" Vaan was saying as we approached the other three, but Balthier kept walking as if the blonde woman wasn't even there. "Hey!" Vaan exclaimed, trying to get the brunette's attention and it worked. Balthier sighed and stopped while Vaan turned back to the woman, but she wasn't paying attention to the blond boy.

Feeling surprised and curious eyes on me, I huffed and walked past the small group of three and then past Balthier. This is exactly what I didn't want. As the others conversed, I tried thinking of ways to hide my wings. Once we got out of here, there would be much more people I'd have to hide from while I waited for my wing to heal.

"Don't get any ideas. I said it's mine." I heard Vaan raise his voice, pulling me out of my thoughts.

"I'm afraid the jury's still out on that one." Baltheir shot back and as I looked back to the group, the glow Vaan's stone had was beginning to fade.

"You stole that?" the newest addition to our group asked, sounding appalled and Vaan nodded vigorously.

"Have you finished? When the guards don't report in, they'll come looking for us." Fran spoke up and began walking towards where I was practically hiding in the shadows of the walkway.

"If they aren't already." Balthier interjected, sounding equally annoyed as he looked.

"Very well." The blonde woman nodded, but hesitated before walking away stridently.

"What's with her?" Vaan mumbled and I couldn't help but roll my eyes. He couldn't be serious. Either he was joking around or he was extremely dense.

"You have a lot to learn before we even get started on your thievery." Baltheir sighed and followed suit as the others.

"Hey, what's that supposed to mean?" Vaan called, but when no one answered, he quickly followed after the group.

After being attacked by four Flans, we decided to stop for a moment to regain our strength. There was a light tap on my shoulder and I spun around to look into the eyes of the blonde woman. "I'm sorry. I did not mean to discomfort you earlier. It's just that, well, the Aegyl were always nothing but legends. Stories that were told to children. I just never expected to see one with my own eyes." She explained and I raised an eyebrow.

"There seems to be a lot of that going around. But I accept your apology." I told her, a bit coldly, but I was at least putting the effort forward.

"We should continue forward. We should be close to the end of these retched sewers." Baltheir announced and pushed off from the wall he was leaning against.

And true to his word, half an hour later, we arrived at a pair of large double iron gates. "This leads back to Lowtown!" Vaan exclaimed and rushed to the front of the group and began pulling on the handle. With Baltheir's help, they were both able to get it open so that we could slip through.

As we began making our way through the flooded courtyard, it began filling a thick fog, reminding me of a story that was told to me when I was still a child. Thinking back to the story, I spoke up. "These wouldn't happen to be the Garamsythe Waterway, would it?" I asked and I prayed to Feolthanos that the answer was no.

"Yup! Best place to hunt rats if you're ever interested!" Vaan answered cheerful, hands behind his head like the journey was over, but I had a really bad feeling it wasn't even close to being over.

"Something troubles you." Fran said, coming up to stand next me, cocking her head slightly in concern.

' _When, every once in a rare while, the Garamsythe Waterway fills with a thick fog, it is said that the Firemane is galloping its ways and channels, its fiery rage boiling the waters into steam._ ' I recited, the legend coming back to me as if I were a child being tucked into bed once more.

"You don't actually believe that, do you?" Vaan asked and I turned to him, getting ready to answer him, but was cut off by a large ball of flames burst into the clearing and began to take shape.

I had my qualms about attacking a spirit, but if we didn't, it probably would've killed us.

After what felt like hours of working at the spirit, we finally managed to take it down. We had little time to celebrate though because moments later the room was being surrounded by soldiers. "Stand where you are!" came a voice from the shadows and, despite our better judgment, we did as we were told, too tired and exhausted to do anything else.

The voice then came into view to reveal a taller man with long, dark hair and look of royalty to him. The blonde woman, Amalia, took a step forward, a clearly pissed look on her face, but Balthier grabber her arm. "Now is not the time." He warned and I had to admit, it piqued my curiosity.

"Wait!" the man called, but paused a moment to think, halting the soldiers that were starting down the stairs towards us. "Throw something over that one's shoulders. We wouldn't want to make too much of a scene." He ordered and the soldiers continued forward again.

Hissing in pain when one of them roughly tossed a blanket over my shoulders, the other took my weapon and cuffed me while the others were cuffed as well. Once they were sure our cuffs were secure, they dragged us up a flight of stairs and into what looked to be an extremely dirty hallway where hundreds of people were gathered around, murmuring amongst themselves.

"They're the thieves who stole into the palace."

"Is that what the commotion last night was about?"

Amalia seemed to then speak my exact thoughts. "They think me some common thief!" she exclaimed, sounding beyond pissed.

"Better than a common assassin." Balthier said, trying to calm the blonde down somewhat. Or at least as much as one could be calmed in a situation such as this. A soldier then stepped forward and shoved Amalia forward.

"These people have done nothing. Release them!" Amalia demanded as she was being taken towards the long haired man.

"What are you doing?" Vaan questioned and Amalia turned on him quickly.

"Don't interrupt me, I'm thinking." She snapped and was continued to be pushed forward.

Not really paying attention to the group of people around us, I missed the petite, blonde girl rushing towards us. "Wait!" she yelled, catching everyone's attention as she tried to get to us, but was held back by some soldiers. "He didn't know what he was doing! You have to let him go! You have to!" she practically sobbed and Vaan stepped forward slightly.

"Penelo! Sorry. That dinner'll have to wait." He apologized and she shook her head.

"I told you!" she cried and I felt bad for the girl. Vaan clearly meant something to her and this must've been terrible for her.

"That's enough!" one of the soldiers behind us yelled and hit Vaan in the back of the head, causing the boy to fall forward. This obviously didn't sit well with the girl because she broke through the guards restraining her and rushed forward.

"Leave him alone!" she yelled, but before she could reach him, Balthier stepped in front of her and handed her something I couldn't quit see from where I was standing.

"Hold onto this for me, would you? Just until I bring Vaan back." He told her and that seemed to appease her while they pulled Balthier back to the group.

"What about this one, my lord?" one of the soldiers asked, stopping the group in front of the man with long hair and dragged me forward. He looked down at me with a contemplative look and then looked back at the guard.

"Take her to Nalbina with the others until the good doctor is ready for her." He told them and without further questions, I was dragged off with the others.


End file.
